


The Spinner & The Mermaid

by Maplesyrup



Series: The Mermaid 'Verse [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Belle - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, I wanted a mermaid story so I wrote one, Mermaid!Belle/Sailor!Rumple verse, Mermaids, Not beta-read, Ocean, Sailing, Sailor!Rumple, Spinner Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Spinner!Rumple, Sweet, a little sad, i'm planning on a happy ending, mermaid, mermaid!Belle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-06-01 19:09:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6532699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maplesyrup/pseuds/Maplesyrup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A lonely and unusual sailor meets a creature known only in stories. OUAT AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Spinner & The Mermaid

**Author's Note:**

> Just something sweet and fun that came to me today. I hope you enjoy it!

_I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue_  
_And it's hey to the starboard, heave ho_  
_Look out, lad, a mermaid be waiting for you_  
_In mysterious fathoms below_  
_From whence wayward Westerlies blow_  
_Where Triton is king and his merpeople sing_  
_In mysterious fathoms below_

 

  
He'd started his life as a spinner.

It was a natural trade for him; he loved the feel of wool through his hands, the satisfaction of a freshly-filled bobbin, and he had an affinity for animals that made sheep-tending easier than it could be.

But his wife, well, she had grander hopes for life than being the wife of a simple spinner, however kind and loving he was. She pushed to get him conscripted into His Majesty's navy, somehow buying a commission with God knows what favors.

He should have known something was up after she ran off with a mid-ranking sailor and became a pirate's mistress. While he'd risen up the ranks to become First Mate. And if the First Mate occasionally mended the tears in his crew’s clothing, all it did was earn him the nickname Spinner-Sailor. He was content with that.

All the better, though, as a wicked gale had blown a storm across their ship and by all accounts drowned the pirate and his mistress. So, he was free. Lonely, out on the ocean with a dozen men and not a woman in sight, but free.

At points of the day, he'd take a short break to look out over the vast blue surrounding him and he'd wonder what lay below the surface they floated on. More often than not, he'd get a friendly, if gruff, clap on the back by his captain and a cheerful admonishment not to get lost in thought at sea, lest one of Triton's merfolk come snatch him into his watery grave.

He'd laugh along with Captain and get back to his work. Merfolk were fantasy, and he was too old for such things.

He'd first heard of those creatures when he was a boy, living with his maiden aunts in a small house on the edge of their village. He'd marveled at the tales, wondering what it would be like to meet one of those beings. He'd asked his aunts if they could spin shawls for the merfolk, as he'd heard the ocean was cold and he worried for the creatures. His aunts had laughed merrily and hugged him, calling him a kind boy and sending him out for a small sweet from the shop up the road.

Now a man grown, his mind occasionally wandered back to the tales of those undersea folk, and specifically mermaids themselves. He'd watch the fish dart past the ship, their bright scales glimmering like treasure, and sometimes he'd see a dolphin or two racing as they sailed and wonder about what he couldn't see.

And if there were times when he saw a fishtail flick by that seemed a tad too long, he kept it to himself. It was a good and hearty crew he sailed with, but they were sailors all the same and he preferred the nickname he already had.

 

 

A red sky one early morning had made the crew jittery. Sailors were a superstitious lot by nature, and the sky had them unsubtly hinting to their captain that perhaps they could delay the journey by a day, and spare their ship the sure hell that awaited them. The Captain laughed, and called them all silly women. Superstitions were just that, and had no bearing on his Majesty’s navy.

But sure as anything, the red sky delivered on her promise and a wicked storm ripped open above them not five miles from shore. The crew did their best, running from one end of the ship to the other to brace her against the angry sea, but luck wasn’t on their side.

Waves roared over the sides of the ship, crashing down on the men trying desperately to stay on deck. The Spinner grabbed at rope, shouting commands and leading his frightened crew through the wicked dance of the sea. He skidded around, adding force where needed, and straining his muscles with the rest to keep them afloat.

The storm raged around them, nothing but black water and tumult, but he felt the edge under his fingertips. Just there, waiting to be grabbed and then they’d have the barest control that would see them through to the finish.

He wrapped a rope around his arm and hand and pulled with the other to move a sail into prime position when the world dipped in a sickening lurch and he was launched into the air.

For a split second he saw the world as a gull might and marveled and the smallness of it all, but all too soon he was plunging towards the water.

He hit with lead force, sinking several feet under. He opened his eyes and stared into the abyss around him, and was sure that if he escaped with his life, he'd be mad from the exposure to the endless watery darkness surrounding him.

His lungs burned and he fought to break the surface to breathe, but a weight kept pulling him lower. He looked to see the rope wrapped around his ankle, a sail-weight at the end dragging him lower.

He began to panic; he didn't want to die, not like this. He screamed out the only air he had in his lungs and watched the bubbles float carelessly above his head. His mind screamed for oxygen, for deliverance, for something to rescue him. Black spots danced before his eyes and his body begged him to breathe in, not understanding there was nothing but water to inhale.

His consciousness began to flicker and he hallucinated a flash of scales near him. His mind was slipping away, conjuring images of long swirling hair, unearthly blue eyes and a frown that he would have loved to soothe away if he wasn't drowning in the very sea he'd foolishly thought to master.

The Spinner had a brief, lovely thought that maybe he'd die in the arms of a mermaid, and what more fitting end for a sailor was there?

But mermaids weren't real.

Were they?

His hallucination swirled around him a few times as he basked in an oxygen-deprived haze. He thought she might have swam up at one point but suddenly she was very close to his face. She pressed her mouth to his and he was sure he was an edge from death, her kiss would steal what was left of him.

But instead of sucking the life from him, she forced his mouth open and a burst of air entered his lungs. His mind was suddenly released from the pleasurable death-haze and his eyes grew wide. His hallucination smiled and shot back up briefly before coming back down and pressing her lips to his again, giving him another breath.

She went once more, and then looked at him, seeming to search for something. She must have found it for her ethereal face broke into a dazzling smile. She shot down to his ankle and he felt the weight slip away and for one glorious moment he was suspended in the water, weightless, between two worlds.

She swam back to him, smiling and he smiled back. She bit her lip and slipped her arms around him. He made to embrace her back, but he felt himself being lifted up through the water until his head broke the surface and he was able to take a gloriously deep breath for what feel like the first time in hours. The storm around them had moved on and the sky was blue and clear once more.

She came up with him, and he saw her bob next to him as he treaded water. He was breathing hard, his body trying to compensate for being denied and all he could do was stare at her.

She stared back, still smiling, though more gentle now. He'd even say relieved. He knew he was feeling great amounts of relief and gratitude. He opened his mouth to speak.

"Thank you."

She swam close to him and reached out a hand, pushing it through his hair. Her eyes were wide on his and then she pressed her mouth to his again, but this time, it was a kiss, not to save his life.

He kissed her back, as best he could while treading water. He felt her tail flip against him, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He feared he would sink from the extra weight, but her flicking tail kept them afloat.

He heard someone shout his name and turned in surprise, breaking their kiss accidentally.

The Captain was calling for him. He figured they'd all have assumed he was lost to the sea and moved on. How long had he been underwater?

He remembered the mermaid and turned back to see her staring into the distance with a fearful expression. He reached out a hand and gently touched her face and she jerked back to him, eyes wide.

Somehow the Spinner understood her fear.

"They won't hurt you."

She swam a bit away from him and looked around. She seemed to locate something he couldn't see and grabbed his arm, tugging. He could to little more than let her pull, her grip surprisingly strong as her agile tail propelled them forward. She located a piece of large driftwood and pushed him to grab on. He turned to her with a question on his face, but she just pointed.

He followed her pointing to see the ship returning to where he was floating in the water. He didn't think he had the strength to call out to them, let alone wave wildly to get their attention, but it didn't matter. His mermaid placed her fingers to her lips and pushed out an ear-splitting whistle. He heard the Captain's shout and she whistled again. He saw the ship start to change direction, and knew they were coming for him.

He gave a short, disbelieving laugh. He'd been sure he was going to die in the sea and now he was a few minutes from rescue.

He turned to look at her and saw such sadness on her face that he could only stare, her melancholy rending his heart.

She pulled herself to him and pressed her forehead to his, kissing him and running her hands through his hair. She squeezed him hard, leaving him breathless, before pushing away with a sound that closely resembled a sob. With a flick of her tail, she was gone under the water.

He stared at the spot he'd last seen her, bewildered and so sad, and nearly missed his crew calling to him and throwing a rope ladder down for him to grasp. He wrapped stiff hands around the rope and wood, and strong hands pulled him up the rest of the way.

He flopped on the deck and sprawled out in a fashion that would normally warrant scolding from the Captain, but no one yelled. He scrambled up after a moment to look over the railing, vainly attempting to see her again, but all that he saw was the glimmering water. He sank back down and felt a sharp stab in his ankle. Hissing in pain, he looked down to see the joint bruising and mangled and understood it was that ankle that had been trapped. It was broken. He dimly hoped the ship's sawbones could do something.

All around him, the crew was talking quickly in astonishment that he'd survived. He was the only one they lost in the storm and they could had sworn he'd turn up dead. The Captain hadn't given up, had ordered the men to turn around and go back to where they'd lost him and look.

They asked how he's survived and he couldn't begin to explain. He only made non-committal grunts and the ship doctor appeared out of nowhere and announced the Spinner needed rest, not more questions, and that they should all thank God he came back to them.

He was helped to his cabin and his ankle was set and wrapped, propped up on some pillows. He was given laudanum for the pain and left with the first dose in a cup of tea. When he was at last left alone, he stared out the window and let sleep overtake him, images of her flitting through his dreams.

 

 

 

He awoke the next day to a throbbing ankle and a very sore body but hobbled up to the deck anyway, to the irritation of the physician.

The Spinner found a spot near the front of the ship to sit and look over the waves as they cut through them, leaving white foam in their wake.

He was lost in the mesmerizing crest and fall of the water and almost missed the glimmer of scales out of the comer of his eye. At once he was alert and moved to the railing as quick as possible with a halting gait. His eyes scanned the surface desperately, willing the flash of color to come back, but he saw nothing.

His hands dropped and he moved to turn away but the flash came back and he sought it eagerly again.

And there it was, just under the surface. A tail a bit too long, shining in the sunlight. He wanted to call out, but was scared of the others seeing her and frightening her off. He looked around in a panic to find something with which to alert her, and stopped.

He looked at the crew, busy with their duties and paying him no need at the moment. Captain was in his quarters and the doctor was below deck. He decided to risk it.

He leaned over the railing as far as he dared and pushed his fingertips to his mouth. He let out a few short whistles and stood back up, waiting.

The tail disappeared and he felt a wretched disappointment. He limped back to his seat and slumped into it. Looking out over the water, hoping to numb his mind with the movement of the waves once more, he noticed a different flicker of movement some twenty yards ahead of the ship.

He stood abruptly and pressed against the rails, gripping in fear and hope. And then he saw her.

She broke the surface, and he could see her smile from all the way ahead of them. He was grinning like a fool when she disappeared again and he was briefly confused before she resurface closer to the ship, moving along the side much like a dolphin would.

He leaned over and stretched a hand out to her, his smile wide and almost painful on his face. She kept pace with the vessel easily, her strong tail propelling her forward fast enough to outrun them. He saw her turn over in the water, the water gliding over her and knew he'd never see anything more beautiful in his life. She smiled up to him, and pressed a kiss to her hand, throwing it out to him. He returned the gesture, feeling his heart flip in his chest, and somehow knew she'd never leave him.

His mermaid disappeared beneath the water again, but this time he wasn't afraid or sad. He felt joyful, and knew she'd be back to watch him as much as he wanted her to be there.

He blew another kiss to the waves where she had been and stood straight, ignoring the throb of his ankle as he looked out over the horizon. He saw her splashing and dipping through the waves far off and felt peace settle in his heart.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think of this little story :)


End file.
